Merry Christmas to all our Members!
The club wishes all of our members a very Happy Christmas and a successful New Year! This article is intended to be a quick recap on the year and also a quick update on a few things including
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We have a small break from training over the Christmas before we recommence training (for some during the holidays and for others early in the New Year). |
Recap on the YearIt was yet another terrific year for the club with many many successes in track and field and in cross country. I won’t get to mention everything here but you can check out all of the articles on the website for a full history of the year:- http://www.craughwellac.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=2&id=22&Itemid=78 The club continues to go from strength to strength in membership terms which is due to a combination of the fantastic coaches and the super facility that we have. As of year end, the club has the third highest membership in the country with 786 members – with Kilkenny City Harriers and Galway City Harriers the two largest with 971 and 831 members. If you correlate this with the 2006 census returns which show Galway City with a population of 72000, Kilkenny City with a population of 8600 and Craughwell City with a population of 1300, it’s an impressive participation rate! I’m sure just like Craughwell, half the members of other clubs are from surrounding areas – but the census still gives an idea of how successful the club is in terms of participation. |
On the competitive front, athletes from the club shone brightly in all age groups – having the largest particpation in the juvenile track and field events in Galway and Connacht and featuring on the medal podium on an uncountable number of occasions. Maeve Curley, Maria McNamara and Claire Ryder joined the ranks of the club’s elite with Maeve representing Ireland at the European Junior Championships in Estonia, Maria representing Ireland twice in heptathlon and pentathlon and Claire representing Ireland in the long jump. |  |
We had many fine successes in indoors and outdoors – particularly in outdoor relays where we had 5 teams make the medal podium at National level – the U9 and U10 girls in Templemore followed by the U15 boys 4×100 and U17 girls 4×100 and 4×300 teams in Tullamore. It was particularly significant for the U17 girls after many years of finishing 4th, 5th and 6th at National level and shows that talent and dedication will eventually pay dividends! In the cross country season, we had our most successful year ever with 8 Connacht titles, 1 All-Ireland title, 2 fourth place finishes in the All-Irelands and 2 international performances. Pride of place goes to our U13 boys who won the National title and also to Peter O’Sullivan and Martin Corcoran who represented Ireland in the international masters cross country in Glasgow. Our U16 and U17 boys also performed heroically when taking 4th place in the All-Irelands, wrapping up a highly successful year for the club. January/February CompetitionSaturday January 7th sees the Galway Indoor Track & Field take place for age groups U10 to Seniors. As always, the club encourages all its members to participate in the Galway events irrespective of their ability. You can find more information on the Galway Indoors at http://www.craughwellac.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=923&Itemid=78. For athletes who haven’t yet got their fill of cross country action, the Secondary Schools cross country takes place on 26th January and the National B cross country championships takes place on 5th Febuary. |
Facility UpdateAs many members and parents will know, the club applied for and received planning permission for the development of a 300m (approx) track and an indoor sports centre adjacent to the school during the year. You can view full details on the county council website http://www.galway.ie/ViewPlanningDocuments/ReposITPlanningDocs.aspx?RefNo=1186 The track would link in with the existing track at the school. This project is still in its infancy and the club is still in the process of determining its affordability in the current climate and has not yet been in a position to purchase the site. |  |
A number of discussions have taken place on this project during the last year with the senior subcommittee of the athletic club, with the soccer club and with the school authorities – the main intention of which is to try to come up with a facility which meets everyone's needs. These discussions are ongoing. The original plans for a 2.36 acre site have been expanded to look at the prospect of acquiring a 7.37 acre site which would include a roadway, additional car parking, a community pitch and in the long-term a 400m tartan running track. Further discussions are taking place on this with the various committees and the school authorities in the New Year and while it is unclear what the outcome of discussions will be, it is clear that the best way forever is for everyone to cooperate as the availability of finance is limited and this is a small community on which to look to for support for fund-raising activities. The drawing below illustrates the potential 7.37 acre site adjacent to the school and adjacent to the GAA grounds. |
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Fundraising ActivitiesThe juvenile club have their annual calendar ready to go and it will be distributed door-to-door and amongst club members during the holiday period and in early January. It is hoped that the full community and membership can support this as it provides key funds to the club, all of which are used to provide facilities. For example, the track at the school which is heavily used by the community cost €24,000 to build and was funded out of juvenile club funds rather than CCSG funds – much of which would have come from the annual calendar over the years. The club is also launching a new clothes recycling scheme. Bags (clothes, curtains, shoes, belts, bags) can be left in the changing rooms in the green container at the school on any Tuesday or Thursday night between now and the end of January. This is a zero-cost activity to club members and the community and helps keep your house tidy. So we are encouraging people to call into their neighbours to get them to support it by donating their unwanted clothes etc. The club will be repeating this scheme 2 to 3 times every year, so please hang onto your unwanted stuff for us throughout the year to help provide better facilities for you and your children. 2012 RegistrationJuvenile registration is now due for the coming year. Some members will already have done this from last last September to end of August 2012 – but for most, you will need to fill out the form and pay the membership fees to cover the next 12 months. The form is available at the link below and will also be handed out at training sessions during January. We need to get all members registered by the end of January:- http://www.craughwellac.com/images/stories/documents/juvenileapplicationform2012.pdf Potential Club YearbookThe club has produced two very successful yearbooks – the first covering the years up to 2005 and the second covering 2006-2007. We are overdue a new one and may be in a position to do one early next year which will cover the years 2008-2011. So get your athletes writing over the Christmas or in January if they have a story to tell, an experience to capture or a photograph to share for the yearbook. And finally, hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and here’s to a very successful 2012! |